New-energy vehicle sales in South Africa reached 22 389 by the end of September, Naamsa said on Monday. That total already beats the 16 703 sold in the whole of 2025.
The new figure is 34% higher than last year’s total, and three months of 2026 are still left. Naamsa’s October sales release counts hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles in this group. In September, one in every nine new cars sold was a new-energy vehicle.
Cars that can be charged from the grid made up 50.5% of new-energy sales this year. Plug-in hybrids accounted for 8 082 sales and battery-electric cars for 3 217. That means plug-in hybrids are outselling fully electric cars by more than 2.5 to one.
Conventional hybrids, which cannot be plugged in, sold 11 090 units. Battery-electric cars were about 14% of new-energy sales. They were less than 1% of the roughly 490 000 new vehicles sold in nine months.
The sales numbers come as fuel gets more expensive. Inland 95-octane petrol passed R30 a litre for the first time in October, reaching R30.25 from 7 October. That was 12.4% more than in September.
The medium-term budget announced fuel levy cuts from 4 November. Petrol drops by R1.50 a litre and diesel by R3. Even with those cuts, petrol would stay about 39% above January levels at October prices, Naamsa said.
Chinese brands also gained ground in October. TechCentral’s analysis of Naamsa’s figures showed they sold 11 319 cars and light commercial vehicles. That was 19.3% of the 58 773 sold. In October 2025, they sold 8 506, or 16.1%.
Part of that rise comes from brands that now report to Naamsa. BYD began reporting in March and sold 814 vehicles in October. Changan sold 375 and LDV sold 167. Without those three, the Chinese share was 17%, TechCentral said.
Chery Group has three brands, namely Chery, Jetour and Omoda and Jaecoo. Together they sold 6 057 vehicles, up 38% from 4 377 a year earlier. Only Toyota with 14 495, Suzuki with 7 292 and the Volkswagen Group with 6 515 sold more.
Not every brand grew. MG sold 221 vehicles, down from 606, and Nissan’s local sales nearly halved to 698. The true Chinese share is higher, TechCentral said, because only manufacturers that report to Naamsa are counted. Geely, for example, sells cars in South Africa but does not appear.
Domestic new vehicle sales rose 10.4% year on year to 61 890 in October. Passenger car sales rose 13.6% to 45 084, with rental companies buying 21.4% of them. Sales for the year to date are up 12.3% at 554 081.
Exports rose 6.3% to 38 117 in October, but they remain 8.3% down for the year.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.